This past Sunday at church, someone mentioned that it was
the beginning of “Passion Week.” I
admit, under my breath, I chuckled a bit – because outside of a church setting,
declaring a week to be “passion week” could be a bit risqué. If we play a word association game and I say “passion”,
I am pretty sure that Jesus won’t be the first thing to pop into your mind. My guess is that you’d probably think of
romance…and if we believe all that TV and the movies tell us, then “passion”
must just be a synonym for sex.
So, why do we call this Passion Week? Have we lost the original meaning of the word
passion?
According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th
edition), passion is
a noun.
It is an English word derived from Anglo-French, which came
from the Latin word passion. Passio
meant suffering…and the Latin word pati
meant “to suffer”.
If you capitalize the word “Passion”, the dictionary says it
means:
a. the sufferings of Christ between the night
of the Last Supper and his death
b. an oratorio based on a gospel narrative of
the Passion
***Side note: PASSION. FLOWERS. ARE. SO. COOL. They were named because of the “passion” of
Christ’s death. They are also called the
“flower of the five wounds.” You should
read up on that when you get a chance. J
That fits with “Passion Week”. But how did we go from there to the meaning
of “passion” today?
If this article is correct, then the word passion developed
through time – was affected by different languages (Latin, French, English….even
the Greek “pathos”) and different authors (Shakespeare).
Using the word “passion” for suffering is now obsolete…but
we do see the word passion being used for emotion or an “intense, driving, or
overmastering feeling or conviction”.
Merriam-Webster states that it can also refer to an ardent affection
(love) or a strong “devotion to some activity, object, or concept”. It can also mean a sexual desire or an object
of desire or deep interest. In other words,
the dictionary now says, “Passion applies to an emotion that is deeply stirring
or ungovernable.” Passion, today, often means Love - an inexplicable emotion that takes over us and makes us do things we wouldn't normally do.
Can we think of Passion Week in those terms? In some ways, yes.
During this week, we remember and celebrate that Jesus “set
his face towards Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).
We are amazed that He would go to the cross for us – to take our
punishment – to LOVE us that deeply. I
would say that qualifies as a strong emotion/ardent affection. But, it was not without reason or
ungovernable. Jesus was in control of His
emotions; He knew what He was heading into.
He even prayed this prayer:
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not
my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
That cup included whipping, crowns of thorns, nails, a
rugged/splintered cross, physical pain, spiritual separation…and He went
anyway. For us.
Passio is Latin, but so also is pati. Pati is the root word
for Patient, which is an
adjective that means:
1. Bearing pains or trials calmly without
complaint
2. Manifesting forbearance under provocation or
strain
3. Not hasty or impetuous
4. Steadfast despite opposition, difficulty or
adversity
5. Able or willing to bear
That truly sounds like Jesus. It sounds like Passion Week – the Lord Jesus
Christ, the man who not only was able, but who was willing to bear our sins…calmly
and without complaint. That's not love as our culture portrays it.
Passion, like so
many words today, has had an evolving definition. Truly, today’s most prevalent definition
would probably be a romantic passion seen most frequently in art.
If TV, movies, and other art forms are really the cries of
our culture’s heart and depict a world longing for passion…a world longing to understand
what it means to truly be loved…then maybe we need to consider that there is a
deeper passion than sexual passion.
And that Passion was Love displayed on a cross two thousand
years ago.
This week, as I remember THAT Passion, may my heart echo
with thankfulness the words of Charles Spurgeon:
"Come in, O strong
and deep love of Jesus, like the sea at the flood in spring tides, cover all my
powers, drown all my sins, wash out all my cares, lift up my earth-bound soul,
and float it right up to my Lord's feet, and there let me lie, a poor broken shell,
washed up by his love, having no virtue or value; and only venturing to whisper
to him that if he will put his ear to me, he will hear within my heart faint
echoes of the vast waves of his own love which have brought me where it is my
delight to lie, even at his feet forever" (Morning & Evening, April 12).
